The view from Gaza: What the US decision not to punish Israel looks like
Al Jazeera
The US decision not to follow through on its past warning to Israel carries fatal consequences for many trapped in Gaza.
The United States State Department says it will not be limiting the weapons it supplies to Israel, elaborating only that it has not been able to “reach an assessment” that Israel is not working to allow sufficient aid into the enclave that it has been bombing for more than 13 months.
In mid-October, the US said Israel had 30 days to ease the humanitarian crisis it caused in Gaza, a month later, it acknowledged the humanitarian situation in Gaza remained dire but said it would not impose a ban on selling more weapons to Israel to continue its war.
With winter approaching and no letup in the current siege conditions imposed by the Israeli military on all of Gaza, residents and aid agencies say they fear that worse is still to come.
In its October 13 letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the State Department appeared to address some of the concerns over the humanitarian crisis its unflinching support of Israel’s war on Gaza had produced.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin demanded, among other things, a written commitment that Israel was not pursuing a siege of Gaza’s north in line with what is commonly referred to as the “General’s Plan”.
